CyAN – Cercle K2 Breakfast on the European Trade Secrets Directive

CyAN and the Cercle K2 held another breakfast debate on February 15th on the European trade secrets Directive.

The preservation of intangible assets is today at the heart of the strategies of companies of all sizes, including startups. The stakes are high: profitability of investments in research, increase of the financial value of the company, differentiation from competition, etc. The valuation of this heritage is enabled by its intellectual property protection. However, certain elements that are essential to the activity of a company cannot be protected through intellectual property. This includes its projects and plans, the algorithms of its applications and software, its ideas of innovative products or services, the concepts on which works its research department and development, etc. The concept of “business secrecy” or “trade secret” aims to cover these strategic elements.

These questions have been addressed by Garance Mathias, active member of CyAN. In particular, she addressed the European Directive ”on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure”, more commonly referred to as the “Trade Secrets” Directive, which should be transposed in France before June 9, 2018. She looked into how companies could prepare themselves today to take advantage tomorrow of the protective regime of the directive?